1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to enunciators for portable data collection terminals, and in particular to a voice prompt system for a portable data collection terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
A data collection terminal 100 typically has an enclosure 101 housing a display 103, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) 103, a keypad 102 for entering data, and an enunciator 108 for audible feedback. Optionally, a bar code scanning device, such as a wand 104, may be connected to or integral in data collection terminal 100 for entering bar code data 106. Data collection terminal 100 is typically battery powered using one or more battery cells. To conserve battery power, wand 104 may be pulsed or contain a switch 105 that turns on wand 104 and terminal 100 only while switch 105 is activated.
A typical portable data collection terminal 100 is small and lightweight and is easily held in the hand of the operator during use. Data is collected and stored in terminal 100 as it is entered by the user by either pressing the appropriate keys on keypad 102 or by "scanning" bar code 106 with wand 104.
To "scan" bar code 106 using wand 104, an operator presses switch 105 and then passes wand 104 over bar code 106 in a linear direction substantially perpendicular to the bars. The scanned bar code is decoded by decoder computer 201 (FIG. 2) and stored in nonvolatile read/write memory 202. Enunciator 108 typically beeps after a bar code scan to inform the user that the bar code has been decoded properly.
Decoder computer 201 typically includes a central processing unit (CPU) 214, volatile read/write memory 213, typically static random access memory (SRAM), and nonvolatile read only program memory 215, typically erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). EPROM 215 contains the firmware that is executed by CPU 214 and that tells CPU 214 what to do. Herein, firmware, program, and software are used interchangeably.
Depending on the process running in terminal 100, (FIG. 2) additional prompts and messages may be displayed on LCD 103 to direct the operator to take various actions such as "Enter Quantity:" or "Enter Item:". In addition, beep tones of various frequencies or a series of beeps may be used to prompt the user to take various actions. However, in many situations, it is cumbersome to read LCD 103, count the beeps, or listen for certain tones while scanning bar codes. Further, data collection is more efficient if it can be done without referring to LCD 103 for the next action to be taken.
In a data collection mode, visual prompts are displayed on LCD 103 to inform the user of the information to be entered. This information may be entered by either scanning one or more bar codes using bar code scanner 104 or keying in the information using keypad 102. As the data is collected, the data is stored in nonvolatile read/write memory 202. When data collection is complete, portable data collection terminal 100 is connected to host computer 210 through input/output (I/O) interface 209. Portable data collection terminal 100 is then put into data upload mode and the collected data is transmitted to host computer 210.